In the field of pharmaceutical preparations, ingredients are commonly provided in containers. The product contained in a vial is transferred using a syringe or by pressure difference toward the preparation device, for example a syringe or toward a specific preparation or synthesis device, in order to constitute the medicinal drug or one of its precursors.
In some cases, the product is provided in liquid form in a vial while in other cases, it assumes the form of a solid, for example powdered or freeze-dried. In the case of a powder, it is most often deposited or evaporated on the bottom of the flask. To recover this powder, a solvent must be introduced into the vial to dissolve the powder. The reconstituted product is then extracted from the vial and transferred to the location of use.
These products are frequently withdrawn from an inverted vial, i.e. with the opening pointing down, having a septum (or elastomeric stopper) or another access means capable of being pierced at the base of the vial. The connection of the vial is achieved by piercing the stopper of the vial using a perforating needle. The vial is therefore “upside down” with the needle perforating the stopper.
A hollow perforating needle as known from the prior art provides a fluid communication means with the contents of the vial. In particular, the tip can pierce the septum, allowing to insert a solution or to empty the content of the vial.
A conventional needle is made up of a sharp tip and a hollow access tube allowing a fluid to flow for example from a perfusion pouch as described in patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,267 B1. The solution continues to flow until the meniscus of the fluid in the vial drops below the end of the tip, leaving a certain quantity of residual liquid in the vial.
The products contained in containers in a small quantity are metered with a precision required by the preparation method or the clinical indication. This precision may be significant. Consequently, not recovering all of the product contained in the vial may cause variations in the quality of the preparation or the quantity transferred.
A conventional perforating needle, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a central channel 11 ending with an orifice that is in the extension of the channel. The perforating needle 1 of FIG. 1 is shown in a flask 2 after it has pierced the septum 6. This needle 1 comprises a cylindrical body 3, a stop 4, and a pointed end 5. The cylindrical body 3 extends from a distal end 9 of the needle toward a proximal end 10. At its distal end 9, the cylindrical body 3 comprises a side wall 12 surrounding a central channel 11 ending with an orifice at the pointed end 5.
Such a needle allows to send a vertical jet of solvent that can reach the apex of the flask (or the bottom of the flask, given that the latter is inverted) and thus to recover in the solvent all of the reagent present, even if it is deposited in solid form on all of the inner walls of the flask. However, such a perforating needle does not allow to empty the flask entirely. A fraction of the fluid 7 always remains unrecoverable below the level of the orifice of the tip 5 (see FIG. 1D). Furthermore, the piercing point is off-centered, which causes an alignment defect of the flasks relative to the axis of the needle and is problematic in automated systems. Lastly, off-centered tips are generally not as sharp.
Document WO 2009/029010 A1 discloses another needle comprising at least one lateral opening allowing to completely empty a vial. Such a perforating needle is shown in FIG. 2. The perforating needle 1 comprises a non-through central channel 11 and two lateral openings 8 at its distal end 9. The opening is just above the septum 6, such that all of the fluid contained in the flask can flow through the lateral opening 8 in the central channel 11.
However, although such a needle allows to empty the flask entirely, the needle does not allow to produce a solvent jet that is vertical enough to reach the bottom of the flask and thus to recover all of the product deposited on the walls.